


Cross your heart (if you really mean it)

by indarias



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Kingdom, F/F, Knights - Freeform, day6 boys play minor roles, it's a jiyoo knight/princess au !!, jiyoo, there's magic too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24178072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indarias/pseuds/indarias
Summary: “Remember where your loyalties lie, Jiu.” The queen’s grip around Yoohyeon’s neck tightened with every step Minji took.“They are withmyqueen,” she unsheathed her sword slowly, a dangerous glint in her eye. “And I suggest you step away from her before I slice your arm off.”[In which two girls fall in love, both fighting for something bigger than themselves.]
Relationships: Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon
Comments: 34
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

Yoohyeon hid behind her mother as she stared at the smaller girl across the room. She felt her mother gently push her forward, towards this stranger. 

“Don’t be stubborn Yoohyeon.” she chided before speaking to the other woman in the room, “My apologies, she’s quite shy around new people.”

Yoohyeon couldn’t hear what her reply was because the small girl was making her way towards her, shooting her a bright smile. “My name’s Minji! Mama said you could show me around?”

She gave a meek nod, remaining silent. “What’s your favourite spot in the castle?” Minji asked. Her favourite spot? She gripped Minji by the arm wordlessly, dragging her out of the room. They dodged past guards and maids bustling through the large hallways. It was quite a walk away but Minji didn’t mind. She filled the silence by asking endless questions to which Yoohyeon replied with one word answers. She only stopped when Yoohyeon brought a finger to her lips and gestured at the sight before her.

She had brought Minji to a large hedge maze.

“A maze? This is your favourite spot?” Minji glanced at it curiously. Yoohyeon only shook her head. She let go of her arm and raced towards the entrance of the maze, losing herself in the twists and turns. She heard Minji call out in confusion and giggled. “Figure it out!” Yoohyeon yelled. She had memorised this maze after spending many afternoons alone exploring it. 

“Princess! Where are you?” the distress in Minji’s voice made Yoohyeon pause. She backtracked and found Minji looking dazed. Taking her hand, she led her through the maze confidently until they found themselves in the centre. It was marked by a large tree taller than both of them. Minji gaped at it but Yoohyeon didn’t stop. She marched straight into one of the hedge walls. “Hey! Where are you going?” 

“Trust me,” Yoohyeon muttered, pushing past the bushes to reveal a fountain. 

Yoohyeon glanced at Minji, waiting to hear what she had to say. “This. This is my favourite spot in the castle.”

“It’s… beautiful. How did you find this place?” she stared at the glittering fountain in awe. 

“I can see the whole layout of the maze from my room and the fountain was so clearly there but I couldn’t figure out how to get to it no matter how many times I tried. It took me weeks before I realised I needed to find a spot through one of the hedge walls.”

“Isn’t that technically cheating,” Minji raised an eyebrow, the corners of her lips tugged into a small smile.

“No! There’s no other way to get to it! I’m pretty sure it was built this way,” Yoohyeon made her way to the fountain, taking a seat at the edge of it and admiring the water. “No one ever comes here. It’s why I like it the most-”

In an instant, Yoohyeon found herself in the fountain, drenched. Minji was doubled over, laughing at the sight of the fuming princess. Yoohyeon quickly reached out and pulled Minji in, surprising the both of them with her strength. She couldn’t stop herself from laughing after seeing the shock on Minji’s face. They spent the afternoon running and playing in the water.

-

“Yoohyeon! Wake up! I wanna go to town!” Minji shook the younger girl vigorously. She groaned and shook her head, burrowing deeper into her pillows. “Come on! We haven’t been for so long!” 

“What time is it?” Yoohyeon’s voice was muffled and rough. 

“It’s time to get up and go to town!” her voice pierced through her sleepy daze. “Later,” she said, still half asleep.

“Cross your heart!”

“Cross my heart?” she was not awake enough for this.

“It’s like a promise. The other girls showed it to me! Look,” Minji drew a cross over her heart and held out her hand. It didn’t surprise her that Minji was befriending the other girls in the castle. Yoohyeon was jealous of her ability to make friends, but she’d sooner die than tell her that. 

“Yooh! Please,” she tugged at her sleeve. Yoohyeon slowly imitated her, tracing a cross over her heart before raising her hand out. Minji laced her fingers with hers and continued, “and hope to die.”

That caught Yoohyeon’s attention. She opened one sleepy eye and stared at her questioningly, “Die?”

“It’s part of the phrase! Just say it,” she insisted. “Fine. Cross my heart and hope to die. Now please let me sleep. The sun isn’t even out,” she let go of her hand and turned away from her, making exaggerated snoring sounds. 

Minji came back two hours later, fully dressed. She sighed when she saw Yoohyeon still in the exact position as when she had left her. Ignoring her best friend’s grumbling, she lugged her into the bathroom and waited for her to prepare. They dressed inconspicuously, not wanting to attract attention in town. 

Quietly, the two girls snuck out of the castle with ease. Yoohyeon’s parents had forbidden her from leaving the castle for the past month, something about issues that they needed to sort out. Yoohyeon frankly couldn’t care less. She knew how to handle herself. They rushed to the stables and saddled Cherry, Minji’s horse. 

“She’s tamer than yours,” Minji reminded her gently as she watched Yoohyeon hesitate. She had gotten bucked off her horse weeks ago and couldn’t bring herself to ride another horse since. “Trust me.” Minji reached out to grab her hand from atop Cherry, pulling her up. She instantly wrapped her arms tightly around Minji’s waist, breathing out slowly. 

She nudged Cherry forward and they quickly found themselves in the heart of town. The town itself had just woken up, with everyone busy prepping for the day ahead. They dismounted Cherry (“That wasn’t so bad was it.”) and made their way through the stalls. Yoohyeon already knew which stall Minji was heading too and passed her a few coins so the older girl could purchase her beloved tarts. 

The stall owner greeted them warmly, picking out Minji’s tarts before she could make her order. She had memorised her order since she ordered the same thing every time she came. When Minji got her tarts, she grinned gleefully at Yoohyeon and maybe waking up early wasn’t so bad. 

“Are you gonna share those?” Yoohyeon stared at the freshly baked tarts.

“Of course no- Hey!” It took a second for her to realise that the bag of tarts Minji was holding had been snatched out of her hand. Minji was faster, and chased after the culprit. Yoohyeon followed, lagging behind as she watched the two figures become smaller. She caught up eventually, spotting Minji pinning the thief onto the ground in an alley. 

“Minji are you okay?” She only nodded, unhooding the thief. It was a young girl, younger than her. She glared at Minji, disarmed. “Get off me,” the girl snarled.

“You’re not in a position to make demands right now,” Minji just laughed.

“I said. Get. Off.” the thief raised her hand slightly and a small flame appeared in her palm. She aimed it at Minji’s wrists, causing the older girl to yelp out in pain. She crawled off of her, surprised. “What are you?”

“My name’s Gahyeon. Don’t forget it,” Gahyeon shot another flame at her foot.

“Minji let’s get out of here!” Yoohyeon grabbed her by her cloak, pulling her out of her trance. They scrambled off, running back to Cherry and riding back to the castle as fast as possible. The ride back was silent, both girls busy trying to wrap their heads around what they had witnessed. It wasn’t a figment of their imagination because the evidence was right there. Minji’s wrist was bruised and burned. There was no denying it. That girl had conjured fire from her palm. 

When they got back to the castle, Yoohyeon hurriedly recounted the story to her mother while Minji searched for a healer to treat her wounds. 

“Witchling,” her mother spat, voice laced with venom.

“What?” 

“They’re the reason I told you to stay in the castle! You need to stop disobeying me Kim Yoohyeon! You could’ve gotten seriously hurt by those parasites,” her mother warned, brimming with anger. She offered no further explanation and banished her to her room with a punishment, “You and that handmaid's daughter are to be under strict watch by the knights since I can’t trust you to stay put.”

It seemed to be effective immediately because after she was dismissed by her mother, one of the knights, Sir Jaehyung, accompanied her. “Sorry Princess Yoohyeon, the queen’s orders,” Jae just shrugged when Yoohyeon shot him a glare. 

They made their way to the infirmary where Yoohyeon spotted Minji rubbing a salve on her wrist. She rushed to her, gently gripping her arm to inspect the burn wound. “What did the healer say?” 

“It’s just a normal burn wound. Nothing magical,” Minji sounded almost disappointed, earning a gentle punch from the taller girl. 

“My mother is making the knights babysit us because we snuck out,” she glanced back at Jae who was waiting outside of the infirmary. 

“It’s my fault anyway. Did she know anything about Gahyeon?” 

“She didn’t tell me much but she said they were witchlings? I think they’ve known about them for a while. Just another thing they’re keeping from me,” Yoohyeon frowned as she grabbed the cooling salve from the table and urged Minji to sit on one of the beds. She removed her shoe and slowly massaged the salve into the burn wound at her ankle. “How are you feeling?”

Minji winced as she answered, trying to distract herself from the pain. “Upset that I never got my tarts.” Yoohyeon rubbed her ankle harder and Minji yelped.

-

“Hey slow down!” Minji raced to catch up with the angry princess. She was making large strides towards her parents’ advisory room, where they were currently having a meeting.

“I have had enough of these goddamn knights tailing us! Seriously they wait for us outside the showers! I need her to tell them to lay off!” Yoohyeon huffed, frustrated.

Just as she was about to swing the door to the advisory room open and yell at her mother, she caught the sound of urgent whispers coming from the room. She covered Minji’s mouth to quieten her and they pressed their ears against the door.

“-want them out as soon as possible! They’re wasting resources,” Yoohyeon could recognise her mother’s shrill voice.

“We’re already doing the bare minimum. They won’t stay for long, just until they get relocated elsewhere. I want them out as much as you do,” her father’s voice was loud and authoritative. There wasn’t room for argument. But her mother pressed on.

“I don’t understand why you accepted them into our kingdom in the first place! Those stupid witchling refugees are the last thing we need right now. They’re only going to become a bigger problem.”

“We aren’t wasting any resources on them. I only allowed them to stay on our land. Nothing more than that. Just give it time. If they don’t get relocated they’ll probably starve to death,” her father’s mirthless laugh echoed in Yoohyeon’s ears. Her hand flew to her mouth before a gasp could escape. Quietly, she laced her hand with Minji’s and they rushed back to her quarters.

Her thoughts shifted back to Gahyeon. The tarts. Her father was starving these witchlings and leaving them to die. Gahyeon was just trying to get food the only way she knew how. 

“What are you going to do?” 

“I don’t there’s anything I _can_ do,” she paused, thinking. “We can get back into town and distribute food? That’s something right?”

“Yeah,” Minji squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’m always behind you.”

-

They stole loaves of bread and bottles of water from the kitchen, Sir Jaehyung and Sir Younghyun losing sight of them in the crowd of chefs and kitchen staff busying themselves with the daily lunch preparations. Minji and Yoohyeon snuck back to Yoohyeon’s room, discussing the possible ways to evade their knights in order to escape into town. 

“We can go at night? The knights usually aren’t as alert.”

“Yeah let’s go tonight. We should probably gather more food,” Yoohyeon dumped the wrapped loaves into a sack before heading back to the kitchen with Minji. Then, a scream could be heard coming from the throne room. With no hesitation, they raced towards the scream along with several other guards. Swinging the door open, Yoohyeon could feel the colour drain from her face as she watched the scene unfold in the throne room. 

Hooded figures cornered her father as he pressed against a wall. One of the figures aimed their palm towards him, mirroring the action she had seen Gahyeon make. Almost instinctively, she rushed towards her father, wanting to do something, anything to stop what was about to happen. She wasn’t fast enough. Minji’s mother was faster. 

The handmaid was already near the king and dashed in front of him, shielding him from the flame that was aimed for his heart. The flame was larger than the one Yoohyeon had seen Gahyeon produce, and much deadlier, with the edges tinted blue. “No!” Minji cried out as the flame flew square into her mother’s chest and consumed her in an instant. It was unlike anything Yoohyeon had ever seen before. The whole throne room lit up in hues of blue and orange before completely disappearing, taking Minji’s mother with it. 

They barely had any time to react because the other hooded figure raised their hand and shot shards of ice straight through the king’s chest. “For leaving us to die!” he shouted as guards tackled him to the ground, slicing both his hands off to disarm him. Yoohyeon stood still as she watched Minji run to the spot her mother had been. There was nothing for her to mourn over, the fire had wiped any trace of the handmaid away. Not even ashes were left. 

She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. Her father was slumped on the ground and blood seeped through his cloaks. There was no denying he was dead. Yoohyeon made her way to Minji and pulled her into a hug as the older girl sobbed. She turned away from her father’s corpse. If she looked at it for a second longer she would’ve thrown up. 

The world stilled as she held Minji, trying not to break with her. They were going to be okay. They needed to be okay. 

-

Yoohyeon stood outside of Minji’s room for a good five minutes, contemplating knocking. She had woken up twice that night from the same scene of her father being killed. Minji was the only person who could get her to sleep well after a nightmare and it was always her who comforted Yoohyeon. But she couldn’t bring herself to knock when she knew that Minji was going through the same thing. It wasn’t fair. 

Just as she was about to turn away from the door, it flung open and she was face to face with a tired Minji. The bags under her eyes told Yoohyeon that she hadn’t been sleeping well either. “I was just about to go to your room,” her voice barely above a whisper. 

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Minji nodded and waved her inside. Wordlessly, they made their way to her bed, a routine that was familiar to both of them. She wrapped herself around Minji and willed herself not to cry. “I don’t have parents anymore,” the older girl muttered, her voice thick.

“You’ll be okay. I’m still here,” Yoohyeon’s heart clenched at the sound of Minji’s cries. 

“Will you leave me too?”

“I won’t. Cross my heart Kim Minji. I’ll never leave you,” she drew the cross over her heart and gripped Minji’s hand tightly, afraid that if she let go, her friend would fall apart. She only nodded and pressed herself to Yoohyeon’s chest. The sound of her heart beating pulled Yoohyeon into a dreamless sleep. 

She woke up to Minji’s soft snoring. Slowly, she got out of bed, careful not to awaken her. She needed to see her mother. Just as she opened the door, the two knight babysitters blocked her path. 

“Move aside I’m just going to see the queen,” Yoohyeon huffed in frustration. It was too early in the morning to deal with these idiots.

“We’re under her orders to keep you in the room Princess,” Sir Younghyun gave her a sheepish smile.

“What? What for?” 

“She didn’t say, but you’re to stay in this room until the day is over. I assume protocols are being set up so that another incident doesn’t happen again.”

Yoohyeon glared at the two knights before returning back to the room. Minji had just barely woken up, rubbing her eyes as she asked, “What’s going on?”

“I’m not allowed to leave this room until the end of the day. This sucks,” Yoohyeon made her way to the bed and groaned.

Then, noises coming from the courtyard caught their attention. Together, they rushed to the window of Minji’s room and were met with the sight of townspeople gathered in the courtyard right outside the castle. What was happening? She spotted her mother raising her arms to call for silence. “Citizens! I have gathered you here today to announce to you that the king is dead!” A hush fell over the crowd. “And the one responsible for his death are these cruel villains,” she waved her hand towards two small figures near her, both chained and kneeling. 

“They are witchlings! Helpless refugees that _we_ have taken in out of the kindness of our hearts and this is how they repay us? Are we going to stand here and let these two criminals walk away?” A resounding roar came from the crowd as the townspeople riled up against the witchlings. 

“I have called you here so you may witness the execution of these foul witchlings. Take this as a warning to anyone who dares stand against us!” With that, a woman Yoohyeon recognised as Lee Yubin, the military’s general, stepped forward and cleanly sliced the throats of both witchlings in a single sweep. The two figures stilled and slumped over, lifeless. 

“From this day forward, any witchlings found in this kingdom are to be hunted and killed. We will not have these pests roaming our home! If you are found harbouring any of them, the military has orders to kill on sight. For a better future.” the queen stepped away, leaving the townspeople and Yoohyeon reeling from the news. 

-

Yubin woke up to incessant banging on her door. She glanced at the clock and groaned. Who needed to see her so urgently at 2am in the morning? Reluctantly, she got out of bed and opened the door. A disheveled looking teenager stared at her, eyes fiery and wild. 

“You’re the general right?” the girl asked, almost breathless.

“Yeah? What do you need?”

“I’m Kim Minji. Train me to be a knight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has been sitting in my drafts for the longest time and im so excited to start it !! the whole fic is inspired by that one behind the scenes video for the dejavu mv if you couldnt tell. feedback is always welcome and thank you for reading :)


	2. Chapter 2

“Again.”

Minji huffed as she stepped back, trying to regain her footing. 

“Your stance is sloppy,” Yubin remarked with a frown.

“Yeah it would be since you’ve had me sparring with you for two hours!” Minji glared at the general.

“We’ve been over this Minji. We need to make up for lost time if you ever want to be a knight. The rest of the kids have been training since young,” Yubin stared at Minji who was still out of breath. 

“Can I just… take a water break?”

She sighed before nodding. Minji dropped her sword and dashed to the fountain near the training area. She relished the feeling of the cool water against her face after hours spent under the sun sparring and training. When she turned around, she found herself inches away from a frowning Yoohyeon. 

“Yoohyeon.”

“You’re avoiding me.” 

“What? I’m not,” Minji shook her head furiously. 

“Minji I barely see you anymore.”

“I told you I’m busy. It’s not like I’m trying-”

She was interrupted by the sound of Yubin calling her name. “General Lee is asking for me. Can we talk about this later?” Yoohyeon only nodded, her eyes swirling with a mix of hurt and something Minji couldn’t recognise. She turned away. Minji jogged back to the training area and picked up her sword. The sounds of metal clashing rang in her ear. 

-

She stood outside Yoohyeon’s bedroom door, confused. The two knights watching over her weren’t stationed outside like she expected which meant that the princess wasn’t in her room. Where could she be? Then, a handmaid exited her room, bowing politely when she spotted Minji. 

“Miss, do you know where Yoohyeon is?” 

“The princess? She should be in the library at this time,” the handmaid answered softly. Minji thanked her and rushed to the library. What could Yoohyeon possibly be doing in there? The girl hated how stuffy and old it was (“I’m pretty sure I’m inhaling the fumes of dead scholars”). She shook her head and pushed the doors open. 

The old library was indeed very stuffy. Minji had only ever been in here once and she’d already forgotten the layout of the place. Large shelves filled with books lined every wall in sight. She made her way to the winding stairs tucked in a corner, coughing from all the dust. She saw Sir Younghyun flipping through a book when she made it to the top. “Sir Younghyun! Do you know where Yoohyeon is?” 

He lifted his finger to his lips, indicating for her to lower her voice. “She’s over at one of the tables. You’ll spot her easily.”

Minji nodded and strolled past more shelves. How big was this damned library? After a minute or two, she finally found Yoohyeon buried in a pile of books. She was snoring softly. She must’ve fallen asleep while reading. Gently, Minji mussed up her hair to rouse her. The princess groaned and gripped her hand to stop her. “Don’t,” was all she said, not even lifting her head from the book. 

“You shouldn’t be sleeping here. Old people fumes,” Minji grimaced when she breathed in. 

“I’m just resting my eyes,” the younger girl mumbled, still refusing to move. 

“Yeah, well you can rest your eyes back in your room. C’mon,” slowly she slung Yoohyeon’s arm over her shoulder and dragged her out of her seat. She mouthed to Sir Jaehyung who was looking at them worriedly, _I'll take her back._

“What are you even doing here?” she tried to make sense of the characters scribbled on one of the pages of the open book to no avail. 

“Studying,” she murmured, not quite awake. Yoohyeon’s arm snaked around Minji’s waist as she leaned on her for support. They stumbled slowly back to her room in silence and Minji released her when they landed on her bed. She sighed, running her hands through her hair as she stared at Yoohyeon. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked at Minji in wonder, almost as if she couldn’t believe she was actually there.

“Why’d you go looking for me?” 

“I said we’d talk later didn’t I?”

She hummed in response, not really taking that as an answer. “I thought you were busy,” her tone was mocking. 

“Yooh, I’m sorry. I know we don’t see each other as much but you know I’ve been training harder.”

“When was the last time we had a proper conversation?” 

Minji searched her mind, trying to think of the last time she talked to her best friend. It had been the morning after she had slept on her bed. The morning Yoohyeon’s mother announced the kill order on witchlings, which was months ago. She felt bile rise up her throat as she thought of her own mother. She tried to ignore the thoughts floating in her head as Yoohyeon spoke up again, “I don’t want to make you feel bad Minji. I’m just worried? You’ve gone from never touching a sword to training from dawn to dusk every day for months. You should pace yourself.”

She paused for a second before adding softly, “And it’s been lonelier. I miss you.”

Minji frowned. Her mother had forbidden Yoohyeon from leaving the castle indefinitely ever since the incident. The two knights breathed down her neck everywhere she went to ensure she stayed put and as far as she knew, Yoohyeon hadn’t bothered to interact with other royalty. She was the same as she was when she was a child, as shy as ever. 

“I miss you too. Let’s go somewhere soon okay?” 

“Where?” Yoohyeon said with a humourless laugh, “You wanna explore the castle again? I can’t leave this place.”

“We can go to town! We can sneak away from your knights easily,” Minji gave a pointed look to Yoohyeon. They did just let her take Yoohyeon away without following along. “Plus they’re probably sick of you already.”

“Shut up,” Yoohyeon huffed. “Could we actually?”

“Yeah! Leave it to me okay? And I swear I’ll try to lay off the training a bit,” Minji smiled at her warmly, hoping she wouldn’t see through her lie. Minji _needed_ to train harder if she wanted to catch up with the rest and be knighted. There was little she could actually do, some useless illiterate orphan. But if she became a knight, it would be so easy to make a difference. It would be so easy to protect Yoohyeon. She wouldn’t stop training. She couldn’t. 

-

Minji found Yoohyeon asleep on the same table days later, face buried in a book. Wordlessly she slung her arm over her shoulder and told Sir Jaehyung that she would take her back to her room. The knight was chatting with Sir Younghyun and barely paid her any mind. They were so bad at watching Yoohyeon she was surprised Yoohyeon hadn’t tried to sneak away earlier. 

“Hey wake up,” she whispered as she lugged the princess towards the stables. “We’re going to town.”

The minute the words left her mouth, Yoohyeon leapt out of her arms and made a mad dash to the stables. Minji couldn’t stop giggling at the sight of her friend so excited over something as small as going to town.

“Cherry I’ve missed you so much!” Yoohyeon gushed over her horse, stroking her muzzle and showering her with compliments. 

“Don’t be dramatic it hasn’t been that long,” Minji strapped the saddle and fitted the bridle around Cherry’s muzzle, patting her as she did so. “Come on before anyone sees us.”

She mounted the horse and hoisted Yoohyeon up. As they made their way to town, Minji couldn’t help but think of how this paralleled the time they had first seen Gahyeon. A sinking feeling built up in her gut as they got closer to town. She snapped out of her reverie when she felt Yoohyeon tighten her grip around her waist, trying to get her attention. 

“Minji look!” she gestured to a small object- no it was an animal of some sort. It was writhing around, so small that Minji wouldn’t have noticed it if Yoohyeon hadn’t pointed it out. She steered Cherry towards the animal, stopping a distance away so they wouldn’t spook it. They dismounted and carefully approached it. It was a puppy, and a very young one at that. It’s eyes were sealed shut and it was whining, probably for it’s mother. Yoohyeon rushed to pick it up and Minji removed her cloak so that she could use it to wrap the shivering puppy.

“Can we bring it back?” Yoohyeon pleaded. 

“We haven’t gone to town yet though? You sure?” the princess only nodded her head urgently and rushed to mount Cherry and head home. They snuck back into the castle with ease, the pup bundled in Yoohyeon’s arms. The younger girl urged Minji to search for food and milk for the puppy while she brought her back to her room. (“What do puppies even eat?” “I don’t know just find something”) 

Minji pushed the door to Yoohyeon’s room open with her heel, arms full. She had managed to snag a crate, blankets and some dog food from the stablehand. Her heart softened at the sight of Yoohyeon stroking the now sleeping puppy curled up near her. 

“The stablehand gave me this liquid dog food thing in a syringe? I figured she can’t eat solid food yet right?” she held up the items in her hand, watching Yoohyeon’s eyes light up in appreciation. She muttered her thanks as she grabbed the syringe and fed the hungry pup drop by drop. “I’ll probably keep her in my room and watch over her until she’s old enough to walk around on her own. The crate’s perfect for her.”

“Have you thought of a name yet?”

“Nope. Do you have any ideas? You helped rescue her too so I guess we’re like her parents,” Yoohyeon giggled as the puppy lapped up every drop of the dog food and went on to nibble at her fingers. 

Minji handed her another syringe before saying, “How about… macaron? Oh! Or tart. She looks like a tart.”

“Preferably not food related?” she stared at the puppy, thinking hard. “Sapphire. I think her name is Sapphire.”

“Pie for short,” Minji added, ducking before Yoohyeon could hit her. The puppy yipped in excitement as the two girls wrestled and rolled around on the bed. Minji ended up on top of Yoohyeon, breathless from laughing. She couldn’t stop thinking about how much she had missed this. How much she had missed her. 

“Thank you,” Yoohyeon whispered into her ear. Something about the way she said it made Minji shiver. The words were laced with something she couldn’t put a name to, and she knew Yoohyeon was thanking her for more than just bringing Pie home. She didn’t have the courage to ask what. 

-

Minji rubbed the cloth hard against the blade of her sword and watched the sunlight bounce off the polished blade. The general was supposed to have met her at the training area ten minutes ago but she was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t uncommon for her to miss out on training sessions, she _was_ the general of the kingdom’s military. It surprised Minji that she even had time to spar individually with her. A soft tap on her shoulder caused her to turn, meeting eye to eye with Sir Kim Wonpil. 

“Good afternoon Miss Kim! General Lee told me to inform you that there won’t be any training today,” Wonpil told her with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“Is she feeling alright?”

“Yeah today was just particularly hard on her. It’ll pass so don’t worry too much,” he spoke with conviction. Just then, the general walked by and Minji noticed a difference immediately. Lee Yubin was the epitome of a closed book. Minji had spent years watching the woman from afar at the head of the military, leading fearlessly. And she spent the last few months training with her and still she had yet to see a crack in her facade. Her features were always perfectly schooled, besides the occasional annoyance. Which was why it deeply unnerved Minji to see the general with her emotions so clearly painted across her face. She was bothered by something, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pulled into a frown. 

Before she could stop herself, Minji chased after Yubin and asked, “What happened?”

“Walk with me.” It was more of a command than a suggestion and Minji wasn’t about to disobey her general. They fell into a comfortable pace as they strolled through the busy hallway in silence. The general seemed to be collecting her thoughts, her eyes cloudy and unfocused. 

“Your mother was killed by witchlings wasn’t she?” the bluntness of the question threw Minji off. She only nodded, gritting her teeth. The general continued, “Do you hate them?”

“They’re the reason I asked you to train me,” she said simply, because it was the truth. 

“You think that becoming a knight will avenge your mother because you’ll be able to execute the witchlings.” A statement rather than a question. Minji wanted to deny it. The statement was laid out so cruelly and blunt. But it was true wasn’t it? Why else would she be a knight? 

“I can’t count the number of them I murdered today. I can’t remember their faces,” her voice was softer now, a pitch away from being impossible to hear. “I can train you to be the best swordsman in the world. I can train you to be light on your feet and I can train you to predict your opponent's next move. With enough time I can train you to be anything Kim Minji. But it’s one thing in the training area and another when you’re actually out there faced with the power of holding someone’s life in your hands. And when you start to question yourself, you need to remember why you decided to become a knight in the first place.”

Minji waited a beat before asking, “Does it get any easier? Killing them?”

“I can’t give you the answer you want.”

-

Days blurred into months as Minji trained harder. She was relentless as she trained, refusing to ever miss a day of sparring. Even when Yubin couldn’t make it for training, she practised alone or searched for someone else to train with. But she saved her evenings for Yoohyeon. She swore to herself that she wouldn’t leave Yoohyeon alone and often found herself accompanying her in the library as she grumbled over books. (“the old policies are so dumb look this one says only a man and a woman are legally allowed to get married?? I’m glad they overruled it years ago” “why’re you even studying old policies?” “i have a conference with my mom and her advisors next week and i want to be prepared but these are seriously giving me a headache” “wanna take a break and steal some pastries from the kitchen? I heard that the baker made cinnamon rolls today” “yes please”) When they weren’t at the library, they snuck away to town or played with Pie, who was growing up to be a slightly bigger dog than when they first found her, but not by much. 

In recent weeks it had been apparent that the general was stressed. She had missed all training sessions with the excuse of _some rebellion shit i have to deal with,_ and didn’t elaborate further. Minji didn’t mind, besides the fact that she was bored out of her mind and wanted something to do that wasn’t beating her peers in sword fights or making laps around the castle grounds. She managed to convince Yoohyeon to abandon her dusty books for an afternoon so they could go to town. 

“There’s a crowd gathering,” Yoohyeon noted as they strolled past the stalls, munching on a tart. 

It was a large crowd gathered in the town square and Minji couldn’t see what they were gathering for. They were loud, all yelling over each other that she couldn’t make out what anyone was saying. “Probably just a brawl. Let’s get out of here,” she pulled Yoohyeon the other direction as the crowd got rowdier. Then, a distinct voice cut through the noise, making her pause. She could recognise it anywhere. Yubin.

She struggled to make out what her general was saying and curiosity got the better of her so she turned back around and pushed through the crowd. Yoohyeon tailed behind, confused at the change of heart. As she got closer, the general’s voice got clearer.

“-have finally caught the leader of the growing rebellion. I hope this sends the message to any witchlings still thinking of fighting against us. You will be caught and punished,” Yubin’s voice wavered, so unlike her normal harsh tone. 

She was flanked with knights that held back the crowd, and the air rang with a mix of cheers and protests as the general stepped forward towards a kneeling woman who Minji presumed was the leader of the rebellion. At the same time, Yoohyeon dashed ahead of Minji, brimming with fury. Minji’s reflexes had gotten much faster and she wrapped an arm around her, holding her tight.

“Let me go,” Yoohyeon squirmed as she tried to free herself. 

“Don’t bother trying to stop the execution. Justice has to be served.” That made Yoohyeon stop. 

“Justice? You think this is justice? What about all the children that have been killed just because they’re witchlings Minji? Children less than half our age! Just because I’m not allowed out of the castle doesn’t mean I don’t hear stories. Is that justice to you?” She looked perplexed and angrier than ever. 

“You’re the last person who should be defending them! They’re the ones who killed your father,” Minji seethed, refusing to look her in the eye. 

“My father left them to die! And I don’t think you’re any better than him,” Yoohyeon pushed away from her and Minji watched as she shoved through the crowd. It was then that gasps could be heard and Minji turned, spotting the general as she drew her sword slowly. The seconds stretched out as Yubin looked at the woman. She hesitated briefly, so briefly that Minji swore she imagined it, before plunging the sword straight into the woman’s chest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter kicked me in the ass :( fun fact i dont have a beta reader and theres only so many times i can read my own writing without getting a headache so please forgive my mistakes and i hope you enjoy the chapter!!


	3. Chapter 3

They don’t talk about it. Yoohyeon doesn’t search for her at the training grounds and Minji doesn’t accompany her at the library. She channeled her anger and time into training.

(She was fighting for the right reason)

Minji glared at her sparring partner as he grinned at her cockily. Dowoon swung at her. Sloppy. (She tried not to think about the anger in Yoohyeon’s eyes when she heard what Minji had said.) She ducked and grabbed his arm, using his weight to fling him onto the ground. (She tried not to think about the disbelief in her voice as she pushed her away.) He landed with a groan but Minji wasn’t done. (“Is that justice to you?”) She let out a yell so primal that Dowoon flinched. (“I don’t think you’re any better than him”) She punched him square in the face. 

(She was fighting for the right reason)

She wouldn’t have stopped if Yubin hadn’t stepped in. “That’s enough,” she pulled Minji off of the wincing boy. “You’ve shown that you’re perfectly capable of disarming your opponent. There was no reason for you to attack him after that. Keep your temper in check Minji.”

“Yes General Lee,” Minji muttered through barely contained anger. 

“And Dowoon, you shouldn’t be rushing headfirst to your opponent,” the general chided. Minji doesn’t hear the rest of her lecture. She needed to cool off. It wasn’t long until she’d be knighted along with the rest of her peers. She had gotten the approval from Yubin just days ago but she couldn’t find it in herself to be happy. The knighting process required both the queen _and_ the princess to be present and Minji really didn’t want to see Yoohyeon.

(She was fighting for the right reason, wasn’t she?)

-

“Kneel before me,” the queen ordered, ceremonial sword at hand.

She obeyed, trying hard to avoid eye contact with the silent princess behind her. She looked [ethereal](https://twitter.com/yoohcolours/status/1264104286071386112), fitted in a white gown with her hair tied neatly into two braids and her face bearing a glower. Yoohyeon didn’t even bother trying to look like she wanted to be there. Minji tried to focus on the queen’s words. “Kim Minji, you have proven yourself to be capable and worthy of serving our kingdom. Do you swear fealty to this kingdom and the royal family?”

“I do,” she said without hesitation. She didn’t look up to see Yoohyeon’s expression. She didn’t want to face her judgement. 

“Do you swear to serve this kingdom and the royal family till your last dying breath?”

“I do.”

“Then by the power vested in me, you are now a knight under the Kim family,” the queen gently tapped the flat side of the sword on one shoulder, then the other. “Rise Knight Jiu.”

Without meaning to, she spared a glance at Yoohyeon. She was frowning. Minji looked away, choosing to instead smile at the queen. She was a knight. She waited for the pride to swell up in her chest. It doesn’t come.

-

They don’t talk about it. Through eavesdropping on the maids, Minji managed to discern that Yoohyeon had barely been sleeping, choosing to instead rot away in the library. It took most of her willpower not to rush there and check on her. Was she eating well? Why wasn’t she sleeping properly? She hated not being able to talk to her. Minji rarely ever fought with Yoohyeon and she didn’t like the feeling of it. 

She focused her energy into her missions. After being knighted, she had taken on numerous tasks ordered by the general or the queen herself. None of these tasks (fortunately) involved babysitting the princess and Minji honestly felt bad for Sir Jaehyung and Sir Younghyun. She was much happier doing _anything_ besides that. The only qualm she had about her missions was her partner, namely Yoon Dowoon. They had been assigned all their tasks together and something about the boy got on her nerves. Maybe it was the confidence that oozed out of every one of his pores. Maybe it was the way he talked to her like he was always right. It pissed her off.

And now, she was stuck patrolling the town with him and Yubin for the rest of the day. They had been assigned to patrol in case any trouble arose in town but their previous patrols had been relatively uneventful, save for the fact that Dowoon would talk her ear off every second of the patrol. He wasn’t any different this time and Yubin made no attempt to shut him up.

“-we actually grew up together! I remember Wonpil used to bite me everytime…” Dowoon trailed off as the three of them spotted a flash of black zipping by and swiping bread from the hands of one of the townspeople. The lady yelped in surprise, too shocked to move. Minji dashed after her instinctively as her legs worked on autopilot. The figure turned the corner, probably hoping to lose her. Minji ran faster.

She backed the thief into the alley, grinning when she realised that they would have nowhere to run.

“Don’t come any closer!” the voice made Minji stop. It was familiar but she couldn’t remember for the life of her where she had heard it from. She approached the figure slowly, unsheathing her sword. 

“Back off!” the girl raised her hands and instantly, two balls of fire grew from her palms. Witchling. The fireballs were aimed straight at the centre of her chest and the force of the flames pushed her back a few inches but, much to the thief’s surprise, the fire did not eat away at her. Minji made a mental note to thank Sir Sungjin for his suggestion of making their new armour fireproof.

She advanced quickly, yanking her arms and pinning them above her head before pressing her sword to her throat, hard enough to draw blood. She took a closer look at the face of the thief and she realised why she had found the voice familiar. It was Gahyeon. She looked slightly older now which was a given since it had been more than a year since their last encounter. Her eyes still held the same ferocity.

“I have the authority to kill you Gahyeon,” Minji threatened, her voice low and dangerous. Her mouth widened slightly from surprise, probably wondering how a knight knew her name. She recovered quickly, biting back, “Then hurry up with it, knight.”

(She was fighting for the right reason)

Her voice was steady and held no fear, but her eyes betrayed her. It swirled with anger but Minji was close enough to the younger girl to see that beneath the facade was _fear._ Terror from the possibility that she could be dying right here in an alley by the hands of a knight she didn’t know the name of. She was absolutely terrified, Minji could sense it, and yet she kept her chin up and glared at the knight. Minji pushed her sword harder, blood staining the blade as she hesitated. She watched the terror grow ever so slightly and thought about how young Gahyeon looked.

(She was fighting for the right reason)

Minji let her go. She let her go and turned away, refusing to look back. The regret doesn’t seep into her skin. It doesn’t suffocate her. It doesn’t even touch her. What was she fighting for? She can’t remember. 

“Where did the girl go?” Dowoon’s voice pierced through her head. Minji turned back to look at the alleyway, half expecting to see a cowering Gahyeon. The alley was empty. Minji sighed, from relief or maybe exhaustion. She felt Dowoon grip her arm and he pulled her so that she was facing him. 

“You let her go! We saw the whole thing! The girl was a witchling, you should’ve killed her!” he accused. His grip got tighter as he glanced at the blood-stained sword. 

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Minji tried pulling away from him but he only got closer, standing close enough for her to feel his warm breath on her face. “She tricked me and escaped.”

“Liar. You let a witchling go free! We’ve barely been knights for two weeks and you already managed to screw up!” The combination of the close proximity mixed with the tone and the sheer volume of his voice angered Minji. He still had a tight hold of her wrist. She was tempted to swing her sword across his arm. 

“Leave it Dowoon!” 

“No! I can’t believe you really let a witchling go! That’s technically treason isn’t it? You went against the word of the queen!” he spouted.

All it took was a second. A second of imagining Dowoon pinned to the wall, gasping for air. “I said fucking leave it!” she yelled as he reached out for her other wrist. And then he flew.

He flew straight into the wall, held up by a hand she imagined wrapped around his throat. His face turned blue as she imagined ripping the air from his lungs, anything to shut him up. He grasped at his throat and she watched tears prick at his eyes. What the fuck did she just do? 

She breathed out, trying to calm herself. Simultaneously, she released the hold she had on Dowoon and almost instantly, the colour returned to his face. He pointed an accusatory finger at Minji, squeaking out a small, “Y-you’re a witchling!”

As quick as Minji had released him, Dowoon found himself pinned against the wall again, this time by the general. She grabbed him by his collar, eyes hard and voice steely as she said, “If you dare speak of this to anyone, I will personally rip your tongue from your throat. Understood?”

“Understood,” he replied meekly, unable to meet eye-to-eye with her. When she let him go, he scrambled away. Minji stared at her hands. Witchling. She was a witchling. She didn’t feel different. She didn’t look different. How was it possible? Yubin gently gripped her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

“Let’s talk somewhere more private.”

-

Minji hesitated before stepping into the general’s quarters. It looked the same as the last (and only) time she had been here. She settled into one of the lounge chairs.

(“You couldn’t have waited until morning to ask me this?” Yubin grumbled, but curiosity bit at her. 

“Will you do it?”

“It’s a tall order, kid. You have a lot of catching up to do if you want to be knighted. And by the looks of it,” Yubin scanned her from head to toe, shaking her head in disapproval, “You haven’t had any training.”

“I can work hard! Please, at least give me a chance,” desperation tinted her voice as she begged. 

Yubin racked her brain, trying to recall where she had heard the name Kim Minji. Oh. The girl was the daughter of the handmaid, killed by witchlings just a day ago. “Why do you want to be a knight?” She watched the cogs in her head turn as the younger girl tried to formulate a response.

“I don’t want to be powerless. I want to be able to fight back.”)

Minji watched her general pace across the room, back and forth and back and forth. It made her dizzy as she followed her movement. She opened her mouth to speak but the general held her hand up, not wanting her train of thought to be interrupted. She sat in silence for a couple of minutes as she observed Yubin think. 

“Did you know?” she finally broke the silence. She didn’t have to complete the question. It was obvious. _Did you know you were a witchling?_ Minji shook her head slowly. 

“So that was the first time you displayed manifestations? It doesn’t usually show up this late,” Yubin mumbled, deep in thought. Why did she know what age was normal for manifestations to appear? “What are you going to do?” Yubin asked.

What _was_ she going to do? She figured Yubin had a plan, considering the way she reacted with Dowoon. “I don’t want to die.” Minji was barely audible. Yubin’s pacing stopped as her eyes crinkled in sympathy. 

“You’re not going to die. I promise,” she kneeled in front of her and grabbed both her hands. “Listen to me. Swear you won’t repeat anything I’ve said outside of this room.”

“I swear,” she tried sounding as sincere as possible. Yubin shook her head. “Swear on something. Something that matters.” 

Her first thought was Yoohyeon. It was always Yoohyeon, even if she didn’t want it to be. There was no one else. “I swear on Yoohyeon’s life. I won’t repeat anything you say outside of this room.”

Yubin accepted the oath because she continued, “Minji, I’m a witchling too.” She laid her palm out flat and Minji’s eyes widened as she watched an orb of water sprout from it. It danced and spun around in her hand, almost as if it was a being of its own. Yubin closed her fist. 

“I can train you. I can take you far away from here and I can train you,” Yubin’s eyes sparked with a fire that Minji hadn’t ever seen before. Minji reeled from the revelation and her crazy suggestion. “Why me? You could’ve trained one of the witchlings roaming in town.”

“You pinned Dowoon to the wall and literally took his breath away two minutes into manifesting! I’ve never seen anyone accomplish something like that without any training. Imagine what you could do if you _did_ get training. And no one would expect it, a knight as a witchling. The queen trusts you, you’re Yoohyeon’s closest friend. I’ve been waiting for a chance to change all of this, Minji. You’re that chance.” Yubin spoke like she needed this more than Minji did. 

It made sense. The hesitation. The exhaustion. Yubin was tired of killing her own people. She was tired of lying to everyone. She was so, so tired. And Minji was going to be the thing that changed everything. Minji was Yubin’s chance to fight back. 

But. “I can’t leave Yoohyeon.”

“What are you fighting for?”

(Her mom.)

(Justice.)

(“I don’t to be powerless.”)

(Yoohyeon.)

(It’s always Yoohyeon.)

“Train with me. It won’t be forever. We’ll come back and we’ll overthrow this shit. But you need to get stronger first.” What would Yoohyeon want? What would she think? Minji knew she trained to become a knight for the wrong reasons. She wanted to start fighting for the right ones. 

“Okay.”

-

Minji tapped the door of Yoohyeon’s room lightly, not really expecting the girl to open it. It seemed that she had a running streak of waking people up at 2am. She didn’t have to wait long because the door quickly opened, revealing an exhausted Yoohyeon.

“What the hell do the two of you need at 2am in the fu-” Yoohyeon stopped midway when she realised that the person interrupting her was in fact, not her babysitters. “Oh. Minji.”

“Can I come in?” she asked slowly, not really sure where their boundaries lie. 

“Of course,” Yoohyeon didn’t hesitate. She warned as Minji stepped in, “It’s really messy. Watch your step.”

The floor of her bedroom was littered with books and documents. By the looks of it, she had taken to studying in her room instead of the library. “Did I wake you?”

She shook her head. “I was up looking through some documents.”

“At 2am.”

“Well, it’s not like I have anything else to do,” she replied dryly. Minji only nodded, scanning the room once more before looking at Yoohyeon. Yoohyeon, the girl she had grown up with. Her closest friend and the one person Minji would die for. She was going to leave her. 

“I’m leaving soon,” she started.

“I heard,” Yoohyeon gave her a small smile. “Some elusive training with the general. Even Sir Jaehyung and Sir Younghyun didn’t know the details. This is the first time the general’s ever taken someone under her wing like this isn’t it? Must be pretty scary.”

She had no idea.

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Minji swallowed, watching the smile fall from the princess’ face.

“Minji… if you only agreed to it because we got into an argument then I’m sor-”

“No,” she interrupted, “Don’t apologise. Yoohyeon I didn’t know what I was fighting for. I was angry that the world took away my mother and I needed to blame it on someone. It was easy to hate the witchlings. But you were right. This isn’t justice,” Minji thought about Gahyeon. Her fear. And then she thought about herself. She was terrified of her powers, of the harm she could inflict, but mostly of dying. Because she didn’t have to worry about it her whole life, but the second she had manifested, the possibility of dying became so tangible. The way Dowoon had looked at her like he hated her. Was that the same way she was looking at the witchlings? “I saw Gahyeon today.”

“Did you… did you kill her?” Yoohyeon looked nervous to ask as she stared at her hands. Her words stung and Minji shook her head furiously. “I let her go. Yoohyeon look at me,” Minji cupped her face gently and tilted it, forcing her to make eye contact with Minji. 

“I tried. I tried but she looked so _scared._ I couldn’t do it,” Minji watched Yoohyeon’s eyes soften and felt her lean into her touch. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. How had she thought that executing the witchlings was okay? “I’m a witchling.”

Yoohyeon gaped at her, half expecting her to say it was a joke. “Are you sure?”

“More than anything. My partner kept pushing and accusing me after he watched me let go of Gahyeon and I snapped,” Minji sighed. “I’m scared.”

The princess laced her hand with Minji’s and pulled her into a hug. It felt like coming home, in the familiar embrace of Yoohyeon. It felt like nothing else mattered as she hugged her closer. They were just two girls, no titles, no fears. The world couldn’t touch them when they were together. But they weren’t going to be together for long. 

“If that’s why you’re leaving then I promise I’ll make sure the queen can’t touch you. We can keep this a secret,” Yoohyeon spoke fervently but her voice lowered as she continued, “You don’t need to leave.”

“You know I need to, Yooh. It’s not safe here. And General Lee promised she’d train me. I’ll come back and we can change everything. Together,” Minji felt her smile as she buried her face against her shoulder. “Promise?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Minji’s movements were swift as she drew the cross over her heart, grinning when Yoohyeon giggled. They hadn’t used the promise in so long. It made Minji feel small. Yoohyeon gently pressed a small kiss to her forehead, squeezing her tighter. They stood like that in each other’s arms, neither moving an inch. They were only two girls, just for a little while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i changed the formatting a lil because i thought the page breaks felt too drastic for every scene change so i hope it's slightly better? anyway sorry for making dowoon a dick i needed him to piss minji off enough but hes not like that irl he's baby!!! school's gonna start soon so updates will be way more inconsistent after this :( i had fun writing this chapter and i really like it so i hope you do too :D thank you for reading!!


End file.
